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Australian Joint Copying Project

A guide to locating and accessing resources within the AJCP microfilm collection

The Australian Joint Copying Project or AJCP is a collection of historical material relating to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific dating from 1560 to 1984. The material has been drawn from records held in the United Kingdom and microfilmed.

The microfilms in the collection are divided into two series:

Public Records Office (PRO) – copied from records held in the UK Public Record Office (now The National Archives)

Miscellaneous (M) – archives and manuscripts copied from a variety of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh institutions and organisations.

To find descriptions of material and the related microfilm reel/s, use this guide and the printed AJCP handbooks held in the Newspapers and Family History zone. You may then order the relevant films via the Library's catalogue.

For detailed descriptions of PRO records, use the Research Guides on the website of The National Archives.

The Australian Joint Copying Project was established in 1945 by an agreement between the National Library of Australia and the State Library of New South Wales to jointly microfilm material in the Public Record Office, London and elsewhere relating to Australia and the Pacific. In 1988 the SLNSW withdrew from the project, which continued until June 1993 under the direction of the NLA and with the participation of the State Library of Victoria, the National Library of New Zealand, the National Archives of New Zealand and other Australian state and academic libraries.

The Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) was established in 1945 by the signing of an agreement between the Commonwealth National Library and the Public Library of New South Wales to jointly microfilm material in the Public Record Office, London, relating to Australia. The scope of the filming later expanded to include New Zealand, the Pacific, South East Asia and Antarctica. From 1960 filming included private records of Australasian interest throughout the British Isles. The Project ceased in 1993.

The collection comprises 10,095 reels of 35mm microfilm.

The National Library of Australia holds the microfilm master. Copies of the microfilm and guides are available for sale.

How are the AJCP microfilms arranged?

For purposes of arrangement and description the AJCP film is divided into two series: the Public Record Office Series and the Miscellaneous Series.

Within the Public Record Office Series, the records of the Colonial Office and Dominion Office are predominant. Almost half of the AJCP film is taken up by the despatches, correspondence, letterbooks and registers, dating from 1788 to 1951, of these two departments.

What other libraries hold copies of AJCP microfilms?

At the time of publication of the third edition of the Introductory Handbook in 2000, the following institutions held all or part of the AJCP microfilms:

AUSTRALIA

Australian Capital Territory

Australian Bureau of Statistics

Australian Customs Service

Australian National University - Noel Butlin Archives

Australian War Memorial

National Library of Australia (COMPLETE)

New South Wales

Archives Authority of New South Wales

Australian National Maritime Museum

Bathurst City Library

Central Coast Family History Society

Charles Sturt University - Regional Archives, Wagga Wagga

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Genealogy Research Service Centre

Macquarie Family History Foundation

Macquarie University Library

Nepean Family History Society

Newcastle Public Library

Richmond Tweed Regional Library

Ryde Municipal Council Library

Society of Australian Genealogists

State Library of New South Wales - Mitchell Library (COMPLETE)

Taralaga Historical Society

Tumut Family History Group

University of New England Library

University of New South Wales Library

University of Newcastle - Auchmuty Library

Wollongong City Reference Library

Northern Territory

Northern Territory Archives Service

Northern Territory University Library

Port Keats Community Archive

Queensland

Genealogical Society of Queensland

James Cook University Library

Queensland State Archives

State Library of Queensland - John Oxley Library

University of Central Queensland Library

University of Queensland Library

South Australia

Flinders University of South Australia

South Australia Heraldry and Genealogy Society

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Library

State Records of South Australia

University of Adelaide: Department of History

Tasmania

Archives Office of Tasmania

Port of Launceston Authority

Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston

University of Tasmania: Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies

University of Tasmania Library

Victoria

Deakin University Library

Monash University: Humanities and Social Sciences Library

State Library of Victoria: Latrobe Library (COMPLETE)

University of Melbourne: Department of History

Western Australia

Library and Information Service of Western Australia (now State Library of Western Australia)

How do I find AJCP material on the Library's catalogue?

Besides the one overall catalogue record to the entire AJCP collection at http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn302431 records are also provided for each class of records. Links to a number of these class records are provided on the pages of this guide. Catalogue entries are also provided for many individual records. You can locate AJCP records in general through a search of the catalogue using relevant keywords such as the following: